Terror At 35,000 Feet- Pre-Recorded Message Tells Frightened Passengers They’re About To Crash- In Error!
At 3am last night on British Airways Flight 206 from Miami to London’s Heathrow Airport, we imagine most passengers were comfortably sleeping. That changed in a hurry when flight crew inadvertently twice triggered a recorded message declaring that the plane could be about to crash. Passengers began crying and screaming, and were still on edge…
Fed Up, Man Seizes Opportunity In Spirit Carry-On Fees
While most airlines have been adding new fees, no American carrier has been more aggressive about doing so than Spirit Airways. Spirit ‘s strategy has been to tease outrageously low fares with obnoxious and vulgar advertisements, but charge exorbitant fees for normal services. Perhaps the most egregious of these is their charge for carry on…
At Sacramenento Checkpoint, Man Bolts, Gets Jolt Of Volts
It was a shocking experience for 26 year old Edwin Barton at a TSA checkpoint in Sacramento last week. After disembarking his flight from Connecticut and leaving the secure area, Barton realized he had left a bus ticket on the plane. He was given a pass to enter back into the secure area but became…
TSA To Begin Having Agents Wear Devices To Measure Cumulative Radiation Exposure From ‘Safe’ Scanners
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Image by Martin Deutsch via Flickr"][/caption] There’s no health risk from the invasive scanners that the TSA has installed at airports around the country, the TSA has maintained. If you don’t like it, you can be searched in an inappropriately intimate way, or not allowed to fly. Now, the agency plans…
Shocking Secret Cause Of Alec Baldwin’s In-Flight Meltdown
Much has been made of Alec Baldwin’s run-in with a flight crew last month resulting in his being removed from a plane for failing to comply with the instructions of the flight crew. Mr. Baldwin, it seems suffers from a powerful addiction: Words With Friends.  Now, we have finally discovered who it was that introduced…
German Couple Discovers First Class Isn’t One Big Party, Force Plane To Land And Disgorge Them
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by oenvoyage via Flickr"][/caption] Peter and Gabriele Strohmaier of Dusseldorf, Germany were traveling in first class on Delta Flight 414 from Atlanta to Costa Rica this evening. Early in the flight, they demanded food and champagne and refused to sit down, disregarding instructions from the flight attendants. As a result…
‘Cupcake Lady’ Sick Of Talking About Cupcakes, But More Sick Of TSA’s Ridiculous Security Theater
It turns out that Rebecca, the TSA Cupcake Lady is, of all things, a Media Studies Professor. In a letter to The Consumerist, she makes an excellent point that we’ve been trying to make, probably less eloquently. After refuting the TSA claims that the cupcake was a gel or mostly icing, she says Anyway, the…
TSA Takes Your Cupcake, Keeps The Change
The TSA, recently best known as the government agency that thinks cupcakes are liquid(the strangest government food classification since the school lunch program declared ketchup a vegetable), has kept a lot more than just one cupcake. Last year, the agency kept $409,085.56 in change left behind at checkpoints by passengers. Under current regulations, the agency…
TSA Cares Toll Free Helpline for Travelers with Disabilities and Medical Needs
We’ve often been critical of TSA policies, but feel it’s important as well to recognize when they take positive steps. One such step is the launch last month of TSA Cares. Passengers with disabilities or medical needs may now call TSA Cares, toll free, at 1-855-787-2227 M-F 9am-9pm,excluding Federal Holidays ,with questions about screening procedures. …
Scoring the Perfect Seat on Your Next Flight
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Jack Zalium via Flickr"][/caption] Everyone seems to want the perfect seat on a plane. Assigned seating is very important to travellers. But airlines have never guaranteed seating. At times it seems we are lucky if they successfully transport us from point A to point B. A few years ago,…
Best Airports For Business Travelers(And Others Who’d Like To Stay Connected)
OnlineMBA.com has put together a handy infographic(below) with information from various sources into a helpful guide for travelers who crave connectivity. Which airports do you most enjoy traveling through?
Terror Cupcake Resurfaces with a New Name
Rebecca Hains has shot back at the TSA’s characterization of her cupcake. The TSA finally decided to finally comment on the situation, which they are calling [caption id="" align="alignright" width="153" caption="Image by openfly via Flickr"][/caption] Cupcakegate. Not even addressing the stupidity of calling any mildly scandalous issue blank-gate, Blogger Bob refers to it as a…
TSA Agent Lavishly Praised For Doing The Right Thing, While Greedy Airline Reaps Benefits
Apparently, the TSA is so embattled and the reputation of its employees in such low regard, that when a TSA agent behaves in a normal, responsible manner, as anyone would be expected to do, it becomes news and he is heaped with lavish praise. We don’t mean to take away from TSA supervisor John Deschamp. …
The Little Twin Engine That Can’t
Strong headwinds have led to sharp increase in the number of transatlantic Continental Airlines flights forced to make unscheduled stops to refuel, the Wall Street Journal reports. The airline, owned by United Continental Holdings, has pushed the envelope by aggressively using the Boeing 757 on transatlantic flights. The plane is smaller and cheaper to operate…
Did They Eat The Fish? British Airways Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Pilots Feel ‘Unwell’
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="183"] Cover via Amazon[/caption] Where’s Ted Striker when you need him? A British Airways flight from London to Glasgow was forced to make an emergency landing on December 20 after both pilots reported feeling unwell and lightheaded. “Approximately 20 minutes into the flight, a very abrupt and panicked message came over the…
What is the TSA For, Exactly?
We usually agree with Bruce Schneier. The man coined the term security theater and he takes an approach to the TSA that mirrors ours. Writing in response to the TSA Blog’s Top Ten Catches of 2011, he pointed out that there is not a single terrorist on the list…or in fact anyone with actual malicious…
Opinion: How Some People Ruin it For the Rest of Us
Earlier today, we opened up a blog entry by noted travel writer Christopher Elliott, titled “Airline tells hospitalized passenger people pretend to be sick all the time” [caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via @daylife"][/caption] This is a horrible thing for any business to suggest to its customers, airline or not. But people…
Shameless Plug – Like Us on Facebook
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="245" caption="Image via CrunchBase"][/caption] We finally, not long ago, set up a Facebook page. Leave it to us to jump on the Facebook bandwagon after only five years of blogging. Since many people live in Facebook, we figured it was time to distribute our content this way as well as encourage commenting…
In-Flight Wifi Safe For Airline Profits
When they’re not busy spuriously telling you to turn off your electronics during takeoff and landing, airlines are busy trying to get you to turn them back on- and open your wallet- to buy their pricey in-flight wifi. Apparently, wifi is safe [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] enough in flight if the airlines…
Southwest Apologizes to Terminally Ill Boy
Last week, Southwest Airlines apologized to the family of a terminally ill boy after they would not allow him use of a specially made car seat that allows him to sit comfortably. They have advised they are working with the family and hope to learn from the experience to improve their practices. The concern appeared…
Frontier Airlines Fails To Deliver Unaccompanied Minor, Threatens To Turn Him Over To Child Protective Services
Paying a fee to check your bag doesn’t guarantee that your bag arrives on time. So why should paying an unaccompanied minor fee guarantee that your child is treated properly? 10 year old Adrian Opsahl was returning from visiting his father in Denver to San Diego on Frontier Airlines when his plane made an unscheduled…
The TSA Tries to Divert Focus Away from Cupcake Confiscation
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via @daylife"][/caption] About a week ago, the TSA confiscated a cupcake, due to its gel-like frosting. Now, we’re not sure what the reasoning was behind this at the time. Perhaps it was being overzealous, perhaps the Security Officer had low blood sugar…maybe it was the name. We…
Science Be Damned, John Quain’s Gut Tells Him Electronics Are Dangerous During Flight
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Image via CrunchBase"][/caption] Several generations ago, a heretofore unimportant Senator arose brandishing a list which he claimed contained the names of 207 known Communists who had infiltrated the State Department. Never mind that Senator McCarthy had no such list, that the number changed from day to day. He knew that State…
Green Beret Arrested Attempting To Bring Explosives On Airplane
Trey Scott Atwater of Hope Mills, NC was arrested Saturday morning attempting to bring explosives through security at Midland International Airport in Midland,TX. Specifics of the incident were not released. CNN reports that: Neither the FBI nor the TSA identified the explosives, though a Midland spokeswoman said the items were “wrapped in military grade wrapping”…